MotoGP – Test 2015: Marquez and Pedrosa end Valencia test on top of MotoGP™ rivals

On Wednesday afternoon at the Valencia circuit Respol Honda’s double-MotoGP™ World Champion Marc Marquez wrapped up three days of testing at the top of the timesheet with a best lap of 1’30.973.

The sun re-emerged today in Valencia, after rain almost completely wrecked testing yesterday. After the track had dried out, the riders finally took to the circuit around 12pm local time, with Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa looking to complete a busy test schedule.

It was Marc’s first outing on the updated 2015 prototype (since Brno test) and it proved very valuable for the HRC engineers. Marc reported positively on some areas, including the chassis front end, but admitted the engine braking, exit of corner and also rear of the chassis still needs work. His fastest time of 1’30.973 (just 0.130 off Rossi’s pole time on Saturday) on lap 58 of 68 (aboard the 2014 machine) placed him fastest on this final day.

Marquez was 0.146s ahead of his teammate Dani Pedrosa, who was second quickest on Wednesday with a time of 1’31.119 and fourth best over the three days of the test. The Honda pair undertook back-to-back comparisons with their 2014 and 2015 RC213V machines, Marquez’s best time registered on a 2015 prototype.

Dani, who spent a few laps on the new machine on Monday, continued his test programme today and commented on the more powerful Honda engine. He also confessed the new 2015 RC213V needs some fine tuning before the lights go out in Qatar at the end of March. His time of 1’31.119 (lap 23/57) ‒on the 2015 prototype‒ put him in second place behind his teammate.

Dani Pedrosa – Official Valencia 2015 MotoGP test

This is the final MotoGP test before the Winter testing ban kicks in at the end of November. The next time Marc and Dani will be on track will be in Malaysia in February 2015.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo was third on Wednesday and second overall this week, with a best time of 1’31.164 from day three compared to his timesheet topping Monday best lap of 1’30.975. Lorenzo and colleague Valentino Rossi worked on testing chassis and exhaust upgrades, with Rossi completing the test sixth overall.

Jorge Lorenzo – Official Valencia 2015 MotoGP test

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith showed good pace over the three days with various 2014 factory parts filtering through from Yamaha for both riders. On the combined timesheets, Espargaro was third best and Smith fifth.

Pol Espargaro – Official Valencia 2015 MotoGP test

Pramac Racing pair Yonny Hernandez and Danilo Petrucci looked good inside the Wednesday top ten, with Hernandez enjoying his first dry session on the GP14.2. Ducati test rider Michele Pirro rode with a special mechanism to test swingarm torsion and ended Wednesday’s session in 12h place, 14th overall over the three days.

Cal Crutchlow’s first test with CWM LCR Honda on a factory spec RC213V concluded with him 0.8s off Marquez’s best time in 10th on Wednesday, with the Briton getting more laps under his belt on the final day.

Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales continued their adaptation to the new Suzuki MotoGP GSX-RR bike, Espargaro working on getting ergonomics right as his foot was touching the exhaust on Monday.

Suzuki Team – Official Valencia 2015 MotoGP test

Meanwhile rookies such as Jack Miller, Loris Baz, Eugene Laverty notched up further track time with their respective new rides. New team Factory Aprilia Gresini were working with new aluminium calipers with their two riders Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri gaining experience on the Italian manufacturer’s machinery.

Wednesday’s session wraps up the official MotoGP group tests for 2014, though further private tests at Jerez and Sepang are planned for some riders, before the winter test ban commences in December.